


Snowday at Garreg Mach

by Lulukaw



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claude is adorable and his schemes are the best, Claude with kids, Gen, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22052197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lulukaw/pseuds/Lulukaw
Summary: It is winter at Garreg Mach and the monastery is covered in snow. Perfect for a good snowball fight.
Kudos: 21





	Snowday at Garreg Mach

**Author's Note:**

> This little text was written for GhostBerry on twitter as I was their secret santa. I was almost late but I wish you happy holidays!  
> Also I precised it in the tags but it's not really explicit in the story itself so, this is pre-timeskip. Enjoy!

The sky was bright blue but the sun was not nearly enough to warm this freezing winter day. The monastery gardens, covered in a thick layer of snow were more quiet than ever, except for the sound of the wind howling and whistling between the tall buildings.

Carefully concealed in the shadows of a low wall, Claude breathed slowly in one of his gloved hands, warming it up a little and preventing any vapour produced by his breath from betraying his position. His back and legs ached from the hunched posture he had been holding for too long now. He felt as if his feet were close to being completely frozen. But for his safety, he had to stay still and focused. Others were hiding somewhere around him, waiting for the slightest opportunity to strike.

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by the familiar creaking of footsteps in the snow echoed from the other side of the wall, not very far from him. Someone was coming, and they were taking their time, not bothering with discretion. They sounded unaware of the threat hidden just a few feet away from them. Good. This way, Claude could take his time to focus. He peeked just a little bit above the wall until he spotted the silhouette, progressing on the path out in the open. He straightened slightly, careful to be as silent as possible. His target didn't show any sign of suspicion at his movement, shielding their eyes probably blinded by the strong reflection of the sun on the pure white snow. Claude couldn't help a smile from spreading on his lips. He focused and took his aim. He steadied his arm, holding his breath… and shot, smoothly releasing his grip. He watched as the projectile followed a perfect arc and came landing in the back of the neck of his victim who jolted and yelped with surprise at the cold wet object that had hit him. Claude stood up, laughing and satisfied with his successful attack.

“Gotcha Lorenz! Again. You really ought to learn about discretion, it’s the third time already.”

“And for the third time, Claude, I am not playing your stupid childish game!”

“Then why are you still coming around here?”

“This is the main alley of the monastery!”

Lorenz’s face was red with indignation and exasperation and Claude could have spent a long time continuing to make fun of him to get him even more angry. But he was leaning on the half wall in plain sight now, and it was not long until something came flying towards him from somewhere ahead of him. He managed to dodge at the last moment but soon, several shapes began to emerge for their own hiding spots in the gardens, arms ready to throw their loads to him. So they were teaming up on him.

“Sorry dear Lorenz, I would love nothing more than chatting with you all day, but it is time for me to go. See ya!”

And with his confident smile still in place, he started to run, quickly followed by a large group of children. He led them further away through the hedges and bushes, snowballs crashing behind him. Some almost got him, and one even hit his right arm, causing loud cheers and encouragements among the kids, but he didn’t stop. They were nearing a clearing of lawn now. Just a few more steps and Claude and his pursuers would be right where he wanted. He planned to take them all out in one go. He began to slow down, and as he came in reach of the first child extending his hand to catch him, he jumped as if to avoid something. If his action obviously revealed that he had set a trap, it was too sudden for anyone to stop in time to avoid it. And indeed, with a shout of alarm, the first child tripped and fell, and all the others after her. Claude stopped and turned to contemplate his work. A pile of little arms and legs tangled in a small pit full of treacherous snow he had dug up earlier. He smiled proudly. It had worked perfectly.

If Claude was not particularly fond of the cold, it was another story when he was challenged to a good snowball fight. A battle in which he could test some of his best schemes and tactics without risking anyone’s life, now that was an occasion he could not pass on. Surely it was no use to compare children with snowballs to soldiers with swords but they had put up a great fight. He had even lost the count of time.

They were all looking at him now, trying to get up and out of the trap, some of them shouting and protesting but mostly laughing.

“That’s cheating!” one of them exclaimed.

“Oh I cheated? What’s teaming up on only one guy when there are ten of you then?” Claude replied, beaming with a mischievous smile on his face.

The kid sticked his tongue out at him in response, and finally the whole group admitted their defeat. Claude extended his hand towards them to offer peace and some help to get out.

“Alright, now what about letting me join your team and I can help you build the biggest, most impressive snowfort ever seen in Fòdlan?”

As the kids cheered in agreement and helped each other to get up, Claude spotted someone from the corner of his eye. Seteth had been watching from a distance, a rare smile lighting his usually stern face before continuing to walk towards a building. Oh but if he was going in this direction… 

“Well kids, before the snowfort I think it’s time to teach you one of my other greatest skills.”

They all followed his gaze in confusion as Seteth made his way through the snow. Claude could have warned him, he had plenty of time to do it. But he was really curious about what would happen. As he reached a tall tree, Seteth abruptly came to a halt, looking with concern at his feet which had touched the little rope Claude had set there. Then in less than one second, he was covered from head to toes in the heavy amount of snow previously supported by the branches. The children burst out laughing and Claude couldn’t repress a chuckle. This one too had worked perfectly. Then, as Seteth called out to him, he turned to his little group and rushed them to run as he finished his previous sentence:

“The strategical retreat!”


End file.
